1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fender liner attached to a motor vehicle wheel house, and to a process for producing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A fender liner is attached to a motor vehicle wheel house so as to cover the upper side of a tire. In a running vehicle, there are cases in which, for example, road noise is generated between tires and road surface, or impact noise is generated because gravels, sand, water, and the like thrown up by tires hit the fender liners. In order to reduce these noises such as the road noise and the impact noise, a countermeasure is taken in which a fiber-based type fender liner that is formed by heating and press-forming a sheet-like material made of a mixture of fibers and latex is attached to the wheel house.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2000-264255 describes a fender liner that is composed of a hard fiberboard formed into a shape fitted to the inner surface of a vehicle body fender.
However, the fiber-based type fender liner has problems in antifouling performance and anti-icing performance because muddy water, snow, or ice thrown up by the tire easily adheres to the fender liner while the vehicle is running. Note that the anti-icing performance refers to performance preventing ice from adhering. Particularly, when the vehicle runs on a snow-covered road in a cold region, freezing of the fender liner itself can cause a large amount of ice and snow to adhere to the fender liner. In order to allow the vehicle to run, it is desirable to prevent the large amount of ice and snow from adhering to the fender liner.
The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,427 describes the use of a needled plastic-fiber fleece material as a wheel housing lining for a motor vehicle wheel housing. This specification describes that a coating of a water impermeable elastomeric material is applied on the surface of the plastic-fiber fleece material opposite to the side facing the wheel housing.
However, if the coating of the water impermeable elastomeric material is applied on the surface of the plastic-fiber fleece material, sound absorbing performance to absorb the noises such as the road noise and the impact noise may deteriorate.